s tactics of immobility. "If
I could only watch my rear as well as my front!" he thought anxiously,
longing for the impossible.

It required some force of character to lay his pistols down; but, on a
sudden impulse, General D'Hubert did this very gently--one on each side
of him. In the army he had been looked upon as a bit of a dandy because
he used to shave and put on a clean shirt on the days of battle. As
a matter of fact, he had always been very careful of his personal
appearance. In a man of nearly forty, in love with a young and charming
girl, this praiseworthy self-respect may run to such little weaknesses
as, for instance, being provided with an elegant little leather
folding-case containing a small ivory comb, and fitted with a piece of
looking-glass on the outside. General D'Hubert, his hands being free,
felt in his breeches' pockets for that implement of innocent vanity
excusable in the possessor of long, silky moustaches. He drew it out,
and then with the utmost coolness and promptitude turned himself over
on his back. In this new attitude, his head a little raised, holding the
little looking-glass just clear of his tree, he squinted into it with
his left eye, while the right kept a direct watch on the rear of his
position. Thus was proved Napoleon's saying, that "for a French soldier,
the word impossible does not exist." He had the right tree nearly
filling the field of his little mirror.

"If he moves from behind it," he reflected with satisfaction, "I am
bound to see his legs. But in any case he can't come upon me unawares."

And sure enough he saw the boots of General Feraud flash in and out,
eclipsing for an instant everything else reflected in the little mirror.
He shifted its position accordingly. But having to form his judgment of
the change from that indirect view he did not realize that now his feet
and a portion of his legs were in plain sight of General Feraud.

General Feraud had been getting gradually impressed by the amazing
cleverness with which his enemy was keeping cover. He had spotted the
right tree with bloodthirsty precision. He was absolutely certain of it.
And yet he had not been able to glimpse as much as the tip of an ear. As
he had been looking for it at the height of about five feet ten inches
from the ground it was no great wonder--but it seemed very wonderful to
General Feraud.

The first view of these feet and legs determined a rush of blood to his
head. He literally stagg